No, "Mayor's Office", what the officers understand is that they were hired and promised one thing and then your office has decided to change that during their tenure. It is your own shortsightedness (and it is partly YOUR fault, not former administrations SRB since you were President of City Council) that created this problem. But, you need to find a way to fix it to live up to the terms of the agreement for those officers on the job. BCPD and BCFD officers cannot change the terms of their job on their own and neither should you!

Pensions need to go away and defined contributions should take their place. The federal government did it, right? Why can't state and locals???

Welcome to Baltimore.

Hope to police and firefighters who turned their backs on our city.

What will happen when I call 911 and no one is there to answer my call for help? or it takes twice as long to get there because you idiots at city hall are crewing with them?

The feeding trough is empty cops and firefighters!

The once proud Charm City is going down the drain. Your inept leaders have destroyed what use to be a proud city. Now it is known as crime city. Wake up voters rid the city of your corrupt Officals.

It's "now" known as crime city?

The billboard left out that the City Council and the Mayor both increased their own COLA.

Of course how did our thief of an ex mayor get a pension of 80 plus thousand dollars per year?

How any elected official can walk away with that big of a pension astounds me!

Well the city played a big game of bait and switch , Now the people who have served the city are paying the price for trusting the city to honor their agreement.Make you wonder .

welcome to baltimore, home of a fire chief who fought and got his head guys a 3% raise while screwing his hundreds of HARD WORKING FIREMEN!!!

Stop misleading the public...when our police & firefighters retire after 20years of service....they DO NOT recieve full retirement benefits.....they get 50% of their pay... which is by far underpaid compared to other counties......get with the program!

@anonymous, how did the police and firefighters turn their back on the City?@anonymous, what do you mean, "Feeding trough is empty"? They deserve what they signed up for...they are not getting rich as far as I know...

The bollboard says it all. The men and women of the Police and Fire Departments not only physically put their lives on the line every day, but the things they see would make the ordinary citizens sick ( Mr anonymous). They are grossly underpaid and under staffed.

in 1969 my father a store owner was shot and killed in his store. before the 1968 riots and the death of martin luther king this little girl used to deliver watches to the fireman and policeman as well as business store owners around the area of north avenue and charles street with out a single thought of my safety. after my deliveries my father would give me a quarter and i would cross the street to the north avenue market. i had a facination watching the men having their shoes shined outside of the market. I had friends there even though we lived in the county i spent saturdays and summers with my father. i have letters he wrote to spiro agnew and others concerning the now rising crime in baltimore city. it wasn't the recessions that ran the businesses out of the city, it was the new fear of the aftermath of the riots. my father was searching for a store in the county to move his business to at the time of his murder at age 37, leaving behind a wife and two little girls. Yes we are too easy on criminals and our police and crime units are treated like they are a passing thought. they are first to be cut rather than increased when we need them most. people do need to take back their neighborhoods with the help of the police. people are being excused of getting jobs and an education because they are under privilaged? My husband is a baltimore city high school teacher, the stories he brings home to me reveal(most) young teens don't care if they have jobs. they know who will provide their meal ticket (the government ) as sad a life as that is. welfare created generations of dead to society children who's parents don't care if they have pencils and paper for school, or even some thing to eat for the day. and lastly a good majority of the criminals now in baltimore city are the parents of many of these children. when the politicians put as much money into fighting crime as they do in entertaining and wooing people into voting for them then we can start to make a difference in the lives of many people. God bless the families of the vilolent crime victims of baltimore city.

I dont understand maybe someone can help me with this: The city builds a convention center, a hotel, a stadium, healthcare for the homeless building, and now formula one racing and says they are broke, then threatens to layoff fire and police then says they will hire 450 more? What am I not understanding?

I haven't covered government in a while but I'm fairly certain the capital and operating budgets are very different beasts. That is to say, building projects are paid for in a different way and come from a different pot of money that can't be transferred. Someone help me out here. -JF

Didn't the F.O.P. host a fundraiser for Mayor Rawlings-Blake last fall?

I think this billboard is pretty tasteless from two organizations whose members don't even live in the city...

When the city starts making police and firefighters live in the city then they will have my backing as a taxpayer. I prefer my money not to leave the city for the economies of small Pennsylvania towns.

Live in the city!? Really? It's dangerous enough working in the city as an Officer, but then to be tracked down and followed home by the same criminals and now neighbors that you lock up? Not only does that put you as an officer in danger, but your wife/husband and children. Any city officer with half a brain would not live in the city. This is the kind of thing that someone who isnt an officer has no understanding of and yet runs their mouth. Its topics like these that the average person would never think about and what makes the job so dangerous.

Anyone with half a brain should be jumping off this sinking ship called Baltimore. Public safety should be a priority especially when an average week nets 8 murders. Changing contacts and furloughs equal bad morale in the police department. And poor firefighters, they're under the knife every time anyone mentions deficit.

I applaud this billboard. I hope it goes national. Someone needs to be embarrassed about the way police and firefighters are treated in Baltimore.

If the FOP and IAFF care so much about the City of Baltimore and its citizens why don't they live and spend their money in the city? It angers me, as a tax payer, that so many of the people who are employed by the Police Department and Fire Department do not live within the confines of the City. Many of them have the unmitgated gall to move to other states. Let them, like other municipal workers, contribute to their pensions and benefits and if they want to live outside the city limits impose a commuter tax. This city is broke and parasites who say they care about the citizenry need to look at who/what it is they really care about. It certainly doesn't seem to be the people who live in Baltimore City.

Where'd they get the money for a billboard? I thought they were all poor as church mice.

I m a city officer and live in the city. So,I do not agree with not living in the city. Respect go along way. Internet can lead criminals to you! U should live where you work. I back the FOP

I am a Baltimore City Fire Fighter who no longer lives in the city, I moved out into the county because I care about the safety of my wife and children. What civilian residents don't seem to understand or chose not to understand is Baltimore City is dangerous, I have seen horrible things over my 13 years in the BCFD, things that would make the average person's stomach turn. I understand why a resident of the city may not feel sorry for a Fire Fighter or Police Officer who doesn't live in the city, but if you have experienced the things that we have or you see the things that we see everyday you would hightail it out of there too. By the way, when you call 911 because something is wrong do you ask the Fire Fighter, Paramedic or Police Officer that arrives if they are living in the city or the county ?

The average person in Baltimore makes an salary of $28000. I do not know anyone in the Fire department or Police department who make a salary that low. Overtime is available, and I do not know of any other jobs that have beds installed at work, color TVs full kitchens, and weight rooms. I have creeped up on many a sleeping police officer and shouted into his window,"HEY! This isn't what I pay you for!" As far as no police or firefighters coming to your emergency, that is another paper tiger ploy to whistle up sympathy and veiled threats by unions. As in the past, if there was a state of emergency, the national guard would arrive at your door not the police or fire department. If they dont like what they are being paid, get another job just like the rest of us who were fed up with city employment, lying mayors and wimp unions(local 44 in particular) did.

Those who posted about living in the city need to think before they talk. Living in the city puts our lives and our families' lives in danger. Read previous posts and realize that we could be followed home or lock up a neighbor, etc. We don't do any less of a job just because we don't live in the city. And we do contribute to our pensions, do a little research before posting. We have always contributed to our pensions. The city has NOT for the last 10 years. However, their pension is full, funny how that works. Our contributions are increasing every year to pay for the city's mistakes. Is that fair? How many city business owners live in the city? Why isn't that important?

Where can I find an authoritative copy of the Police and/or Fire Department personnel's retirement and health benefits?

The lack of respect for public servants demonstrated by so many posters here is astounding. These individuals put their lives on the line every single day to protect and serve a violent, and clearly ungrateful, community. For those who complain that the firefighters have beds and color tv's? You should be ashamed. Those men and women commit to work up to 48 hours at a time - of course a nap or a break would be expected. For those of you who expect a cop and his family to live in the city, I ask why does that matter? If an officer is committed to defending citizen's rights, it doesn't matter where he or she works. And furthermore, were officers forced to live in this city, this city would likely have many fewer officers. I would like to remind you that the crime level in this city is far less related to the competence of the police force and far more related to the likes of Patricia Jessamy and choices that allow criminals to never see the inside of a much deserved jail cell but to continue the criminal activities that make this city so dangerous.

In regards to pension - given the danger and the demands of these job paired with the low pay, there should be some type of compensatory benefit to these public service jobs. To those who suggest eliminating pension and replacing it with contributions, I ask how people who make less than 50k/year are expected to support themselves and their families and put away any significant amount of money toward their retirement? There are other reasonable arguments for maintaining a pension program for public servants, but I would say that is the greatest reason - public servants such as officers, firefighters, and teachers would never be able to retire were pensions not available.

All in all, I think before attacking officers and firefighters and embellishing the benefits of their jobs, some should take a moment to consider the importance of these positions and what these people do for us each and every day. Instead of suggesting apathetic ideas such "if they don't like it, they should get another job," perhaps we should join in the fight for the rights of the people that serve us.

Cut the mayor and city council's yearly salary's in half.

Cancel all of the mayors hair, make-up, and clothing budget.

Take note that every single member of the city council is a (D)emocrat party member.

Vote accordingly.